Fried Rice
by VickyVicarious
Summary: Kotetsu T. Kaburagi is a mystery to Yuri. Also, he makes delicious fried rice. [Kotetsu and Yuri share a lunch together, and probably nothing changes.]


I found that I quite liked writing Yuri. And Kotetsu is always awesome, of course... Anyway, this is set sometime before Kotetsu starts losing his powers, not sure exactly when.

**Prompt: **Kotetsu notices that Yuri's kind of sickly looking and offers to make him lunch. They bond in the process.

* * *

"…We will take a brief recess, and reconvene in half an hour."

Yuri Petrov left the courtroom with a sigh and stifled yawn. He was tired. Lunatic had been active last night. At first, all had gone well. But just as he'd cornered the thief he was hunting in an alley, the heroes of Sternbild had interrupted him. Wild Tiger crashed right through a wall in his efforts to catch the vigilante; however, he'd only ended up slowing down his companions while Lunatic gained a good head start. On the plus side, the tumbling bricks had also landed on Lunatic's intended victim. His left leg crushed, he was easily apprehended by the police.

On the other hand, Lunatic was forced to stay up much later than he had originally intended as he evaded capture himself. And Wild Tiger's antics throughout the chase meant he had to get up early the next morning and slog through hours of property damage finings. At least he'd had the slight pleasure of being able to reprimand Kotetsu for yawning loudly in the middle of his testimony. The hero was much less able to hide his exhaustion – but then, at least he was able to admit the reason for it.

Yuri only had thirty minutes. He intended to make the best of them. Clenching his jaw through another yawn, he returned to his office and hung up his coat. His leather desk chair was rather comfortable and inclined back well enough. A short nap would help him regain his focus during the rest of the trial.

He sat down, leaned back, and closed his eyes. Already, he could feel the tension in his muscles relaxing…

BAM. BAMBAMBAM.

Yuri sat up quickly. "Come in," he called, not showing his irritation.

The large door opened a crack, and a man poked his head in sheepishly. It was none other than Kotetsu T. Kaburagi. After glancing around the room as if to make sure Yuri was alone, he quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind him. He held a small cloth bag in one hand.

Kotetsu grinned, hoisting the bag in the air. "Um, hey there, Judge Petrov. I brought something for you. I thought this might put you in a… better mood, before we go back to court."

Yuri felt his face stiffening. Something rather like disappointment condensed in his gut. "Mr. Kaburagi, I suggest that you leave now. If you continue any further, not only will I refuse your bribe, but I will prosecute you for it."

Kotetsu blinked. Then he jumped as the meaning of Yuri's words sunk in. Shaking his head wildly, he stumbled over to the desk and started fumbling with the knot holding his bag closed, protesting all the while. "No! No, no nonono. I'd never do that! I couldn't afford it anyway. Really, you've got me all wrong, it's just –"

"Mr. Kaburagi –"

"Just – just lunch! See?" Kotetsu finally got the bag open and pulled out two small lacquered boxes, and a pair of chopsticks.

Yuri stared at them for a moment.

The hero coughed awkwardly. "I just noticed that you seemed sort of pale today. More than usual, that is. And you looked kind of out of it a little. I mean, I yawned three times before you even yelled at me! Um. So I thought you might be sick and, well. Lunch."

Kotetsu pasted on a smile and scratched at his chin, sweating slightly. Yuri slowly reached forward and opened the first box. A warm, pleasing smell rose up as he lifted the lid, and he looked down at the contents of the box. The large serving of fried rice looked delicious, with plenty of vegetables, chicken, and egg. It appeared homemade.

Without a word, Yuri opened the second box. It contained various fruits – the sliced apples had half of the peels removed for some reason – asparagus, and a few cherry tomatoes that seemed to have been tossed in at random.

Kotetsu blushed a little. "So I'm not really up to _kyaraben_. My bento still tastes good. And it's healthy."

Yuri stared down at the food for a few seconds more, uncertain whether or not to indulge. There was something uncomfortable in accepting a gift from this man. But it really did look delicious, and what with vigilantism, caring for his mother, and mounds of paperwork, he hadn't eaten in (he paused to think) over a day.

Perhaps Kotetsu had a point. At this point he was unlikely to get to sleep anyway. Yuri picked up the chopsticks and took a tentative bite of the fried rice.

His eyes widened.

"…This is delicious."

Finally, Kotetsu seemed to relax, collapsing into the chair in front of Yuri's desk with a triumphant laugh. "Ha! Of course it is: fried rice is my specialty. Well… okay, it's pretty much all I can cook, but I'm _good_ at it!"

Yuri found himself unable to disagree. He pulled his chair a little closer to the desk and proceeded eating the bento rapidly. As soon as he'd taken a bite, it had dawned on him just how hungry he really was. He wasn't sure how much of that was simply a reaction to the homemade food. He hadn't eaten anything truly homemade in years, and only now did he realize the loss.

Kotetsu watched him eat, grinning all the while. He still looked a little uncomfortable with the situation, but that was to be expected. Yuri had all but forgotten him in favor of the food when suddenly, there was a ridiculously loud gurgling sound.

He glanced up from the food. Kotetsu's grin stiffened a little. "Sorry," he winced. "Go ahead, keep eating."

Yuri looked down at the fried rice, almost half of which was already gone. He looked at the single pair of chopsticks in his hands. He looked at Kotetsu, smiling widely with one hand on his stomach as if to suppress the sounds it was making.

He swallowed the food he was chewing. It seemed to stick in his throat.

"You gave me your lunch."

"Uh. No. I, uh, I already ate. Eat up, you need it." Kotetsu was a terrible liar.

Yuri set down the chopsticks across the bento box. Then he slid it across the desk towards his visitor. Kotetsu pushed it back.

"Okay, you caught me. But… Judge Petrov, you looked really ill today. I know I probably make your life a lot more stressful. I mean, that goes both ways – but, no offense, you don't really seem like you're taking the best care of yourself. I just think you should eat better. You weren't even going to have lunch until I brought this over, were you?"

Yuri shook his head. He felt very warm, and it was somewhat difficult to maintain his blank expression. He did not understand this man.

"See! No wonder you're so pale! You've gotta eat. Here, try some apples. They're even better than coffee for waking you up." Kotetsu picked up one of the apple slices and held it out appealingly.

"How did you know I was tired?" Yuri asked, uncomfortable. He'd thought he had hidden his exhaustion well.

Kotetsu waggled the apple in front of his lips. "I recognized the symptoms from all my late nights. Were you up watching the broadcast? I nearly caught Lunatic!"

Yuri snorted. "Hardly." He caught himself. "I… saw a portion of the chase when I checked the news. You caused a lot of damage to the city, as usual."

"All in the line of duty!" Kotetsu kept leaning forward, aiming the apple slice at Yuri's mouth. He seemed ready to simply shove it in. Yuri leaned back out of his reach.

"Mr. Kaburagi, I do _not_ need you to hand-feed me. You are behaving very inappropriately."

Kotetsu slumped at the cold words, his face falling. He slowly dropped the apple back in its dish. "…Right. It's just, I wanted to show you my appreciation. I mean, you do a lot of good for the city – even if my bank hates me because of you. You're still the best judge in Sternbild. So you should take better care of yourself. Even if it's not my place to mention, I thought I should say that."

He stood.

"I'll get out of your hair. Sorry, Judge."

Yuri watched him walking towards the door. Kotetsu looked miserable – his stomach was growling audibly again, but he made no move to take the lunch with him. He really did seem to be driven entirely by concern. The wellbeing of others always took priority over his own needs. He overreacted, got carried away, pushed too far… The same reckless abandon in his hero work was equally present in his personal life. No matter how much the public disregarded him, no matter how many fines he accrued, no matter how little appreciation he received from _anyone_, he didn't let it hold him back. He honestly just wanted to help people. Kotetsu T. Kaburagi was… a mystery to Yuri.

Sometimes Yuri wanted to touch him, just to confirm that such a man could truly exist.

Instead, he said, "Mr. Kaburagi, I don't believe I excused you. Sit down."

After a surprised pause, Kotetsu did so, wincing in clear expectation of more scolding. Yuri firmly set the dish containing the rest of the fried rice in front of him. Then he picked up an apple slice and bit cleanly through it. The _crunch_ seemed very loud in the quiet room.

"Wh-what?" Kotetsu asked. Yuri gestured at the fried rice.

"Eat it. I would rather not have your stomach rumbling for the rest of the afternoon and distracting the prosecutor."

Kotetsu gaped at him. Yuri tried to remain unreadable; something deep inside of him was burning blue. He couldn't meet Kotetsu's eyes. He took another bite of the apple, the crisp juice leaking down his fingers.

"Thanks, Judge…" Kotetsu said slowly, voice hesitant but pleased nonetheless. He picked up the chopsticks, said, "_Itadakimasu!_" and started eating.

"You're welcome," Yuri said. After that they ate in silence, with only the occasional query about the food.

Apparently the ripped skins on the apples were meant to be bunny ears.

"I'm practicing to give them to Bunny!" Kotetsu whispered, eyes crinkling under the force of his mischievous grin. "He _hates_ it when I tease him like that."

"…You have a long way to go. These simply look like you are incapable of handling a knife."

"That's not too far from the truth," Kotetsu sighed. "I can only cook fried rice, after all."

Yuri did not know why he spoke next, except that it was the truth and this man should not exist. "But it's delicious."

Kotetsu's eyes widened, before a pleased smile broke out over his face. "Aw, you flatter me, Judge Petrov."

"I would never do that, Mr. Kaburagi."

"Then I appreciate it even more. You're always honest, so I know I've earned the praise."

The air seemed to freeze inside Yuri's lungs. A distant crackle of fire; the red moon whispered in his mind. His father's smile overlapped Kotetsu's broad grin for several long seconds – and it seemed a perfect fit. He could not believe that it _wasn't_, in some deep, dark corner of Wild Tiger's heart. He just had not been sufficiently tested yet.

Lunatic laughed, the moon bled, and Yuri stood up.

"It's time we returned to the courtroom. If you trust my judgment so well, I expect you won't have any complaints about the verdict I make today?"

"Urk." Kotetsu flinched. "Of… course not. Sir."

He sighed as he packed up the remains of his lunch and followed Yuri down the hallway. Just before they reached the courtroom, Yuri paused.

"Thank you for the lunch. It will not influence my decision in any way, but… I enjoyed it."

Kotetsu's expression was half smile, half pout. "I didn't expect it to. And… I'm glad. You look a little better, but I'd still go to bed early tonight. And drink plenty of fluids."

"Your concern is unnecessary and your advice unwanted." Yuri entered the courtroom first, ignoring Kotetsu's melodramatic complaint about 'couldn't he have ended on that nice note from earlier'.

He did not trust Wild Tiger yet. He could not trust him yet. He could not believe such a man was real, did not hide a deep darkness, was so completely and simply a _hero_. He could not believe that, and the fines he assigned later that afternoon were as harsh as ever.

But the food had been good. The concern today, at least today had been true. If only that much – that much, he knew to be true.

Yuri looked up a fried rice recipe on the Internet, and made a simple version for dinner that night. It was overcooked, mushy and unappetizing. His mother flung hers all over the floor.

He cleaned his plate.


End file.
